THORChain Seizes Throne: Third-Largest DEX Trading Volume Surges with RUNE

The Rise of THORChain

In a thrilling twist for the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape, THORChain has managed to clinch the third spot for trading volume among decentralized exchanges, raking in a whopping $1.32 billion in just one week. This meteoric rise comes behind heavyweights Uniswap and PancakeSwap, which posted $10.85 billion and $2.77 billion respectively, as reported by DefiLlama.

RUNE’s Explosive Growth

Driving much of this trading frenzy is THORChain’s native token, RUNE, which has surged by a jaw-dropping 51% over the last week. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a staggering 200% increase over the past 30 days, according to CoinGecko. You could say RUNE is the poster child for ‘going to the moon’ in the crypto world.

Chad Barraford’s Surprise

THORChain’s ascendance past Curve Finance was expected to be a drawn-out affair by its core developer, Chad Barraford, who initially anticipated this monumental flippening taking place before the end of 2023. Barraford had a little bit of a premature celebratory moment when he quipped,

“Okay, this happened much faster than I thought. Just took 2 days instead of 2 months.”

Talk about a pleasant surprise!

Multichain Powerhouse

THORChain has carved a niche for itself as a multichain alternative to Uniswap, allowing users to effortlessly swap native Bitcoin (BTC) for Ether (ETH). The platform’s decentralized exchange, aptly named THORSwap, serves as the battleground for these trades, enabling a direct and seamless trading experience.

Attractive Yield Opportunities

Why are investors flocking to THORChain like bees to honey? It boils down to the enticing yields on offer. The average annual percentage rate (APR) on the platform is nearly 44%, but some liquidity pools go all out, offering mind-boggling APRs—like a Bitcoin and RUNE pairing that’s rumored to hit over 353% APR! Can you say cha-ching?

Bitcoin and THORChain: A Perfect Match

Bitcoin advocate Erik Voorhees made waves by highlighting that during a 24-hour span from November 11 to 12, THORChain processed almost 2% of the total spot Bitcoin trading volume—equating to $224 million—without any intermediaries. As Voorhees emphatically stated,

“Principled Bitcoiners should be familiar with THORChain. It is the only market to trade Bitcoin at scale without an intermediary… which is the entire point of Bitcoin.”